Pleurozia

Pleurozia is the only genus of liverworts in the family Pleuroziaceae, which is now classified in its own order Pleuroziales, but was previously included in a broader circumscription of the Jungermanniales.^[3] The genus includes twelve species,^[4][5] and as a whole is both physically distinctive and widely distributed.^[6]

Pleurozia
Pleurozia purpurea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Marchantiophyta
Class:	Jungermanniopsida
Subclass:	Metzgeriidae
Order:	Pleuroziales Schljakov
Family:	Pleuroziaceae (Schiffn.) Müll.Frib.[1]
Genus:	Pleurozia Dumort.[2]
Synonyms
Eopleurozia Schust. Physiotium Nees

The lower leaf lobes of Pleurozia species are fused, forming a closed water sac covered by a movable lid similar in structure to those of the angiosperm genus Utricularia. These sacs were assumed to play a role in water storage, but a 2005 study on Pleurozia purpurea found that the sacs attract and trap ciliates, much in the same way as Utricularia. Observations of plants in situ also revealed a large number of trapped prey within the sacs, suggesting that the species in this genus obtain some benefit from a carnivorous habit. After Colura, this was the second report of zoophagy among the liverworts.^[7]

Taxonomy

The genus Pleurozia has been subdivided into three subgenera:

• Pleurozia subg. Pleurozia
  • Pleurozia gigantea (Weber) Lindberg
• Pleurozia subg. Constantifolia Thiers
  • Pleurozia purpurea Lindberg
  • Pleurozia conchifolia (Hooker & Arnott) Austin
• Pleurozia subg. Diversifolia Thiers
  • Pleurozia acinosa (Mitten) Trevisan
  • Pleurozia articulata (Lindberg) Lindberg & Lackström
  • Pleurozia caledonica (Gottsche ex Jack) Stephani
  • Pleurozia curiosa Thiers
  • Pleurozia heterophylla Stephani ex Fulford
  • Pleurozia johannis-winkleri Herzog
  • Pleurozia paradoxa (Jack) Schiffner
  • Pleurozia subinflata (Austin) Austin
• Unplaced
  • Pleurozia pocsii Müller